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The University of California’s new employee health plan exceeds enrollment goals with a smart brand, innovative design, and targeted campaigns.

The University of California benefits cover hundreds of thousands of lives—from service workers to tenured professors—throughout the state’s flagship 10-campus system. In 2013, the University’s Office of the President created UC Care, a new medical plan that would serve the widely diverse needs of the UC community while encouraging members to use UC’s five world-renowned medical centers.

UC is a big community, and there were equally big audiences to capture with the UC Care rollout—faculty, families, campus leaders, medical center administrators and other university health professionals. So, our strategy included gathering insights for upcoming communications through diverse focus group meetings. We heard first-hand what employees want, need, like, don’t like. It was invaluable—and inexpensive—feedback that enhanced the campaign's success.

Armed with that information, our team served as the University’s partner to research, brand, message and launch UC Care—from concept to live health plan with 46,000 members in the first year.

New plan launch

with targeted messaging

46,000

plan enrollees

90,000

website users

A brand connection

With its logo, tagline, colors and imagery, we created a brand for UC Care that inspires positivity, emphasizes choice and reinforces the University and the plan as a strong source of information about members’ care and benefit options.

Our strongest focus is connecting with and communicating to UC Care members. Having succeeded with that, we feel confident that reaching all of our other goals will follow. Having the right partner in Benz who is committed to creating something outstanding makes all the difference.

Lori Taylor, executive director of self-funded plans for risk services, University of California

Simple, accessible and in-depth resources

We built a responsive and mobile-optimized website that was unique for UC Care. During the education phase of the campaign, the website housed all plan comparison information, tools and resources. Since UC Care’s debut in January 2014, the website now serves as the information hub for members to learn about and use their plan effectively.

Targeted messaging

In conjunction with the UC Care rollout, UC eliminated three medical plans. We mapped out a targeted multimedia campaign (including print, online and video) that featured specific messages regarding unique replacement plan options—including UC Care—and steered members toward which plans matched the features of their current benefits. All mailers included big, colorful photography that reflected and celebrated the diversity of UC’s population.

Accolades

UC Care was lauded in 2015 for its leading-edge design and results in a national feature for Workforce Magazine. In addition, Lori Taylor, UC’s executive director of self-funded plans for risk services, speaks regularly at health care conferences, including the Annual Self-Funding Conference and Employer Healthcare Congress.